Yucca arguments debated: Judges question state's challenge to regulation

[NVMojo]

WASHINGTON -- Attorneys who ventured to federal court Thursday to argue Nevada's challenge to a government nuclear waste rule were told by two judges that the state did not appear to have a strong case.

"There are so many ways to dispose of this right now, I don't know right now just which way," Judge Harry T. Edwards said during a half- hour session at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Judge A. Raymond Randolph also questioned the state's position. Judge Janice Rogers Brown, the third member of the panel that will decide the case, was silent during the arguments.

The judges' questioning of the government's attorney was tame by comparison.

Joseph Egan, Nevada's lead attorney on nuclear waste matters, said afterward that he would not read into the judges' comments. "I've learned not to begin guessing on a court's ruling based on oral arguments," Egan said, since judges sometimes adopt challenging and contrary positions for sake of testing out litigants.

A decision is expected within several months.

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http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-15-Fri-2006/news/9669020.html